A community of established Santa Fe interior designers gathered in a unique design show house collaborative benefitting the non-profit organization Dollars4Schools based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe Interior Designers Co-Founders of this Interior Design Venue are Jennifer Ashton, Allied ASID and David Naylor of David Naylor Interiors.

Q&A with Edy Keeler, Core Value Interiors

Where do you find inspiration when starting a new project?

From the highest desires of clients, as well as the practical needs, combined with influences within and without their experiences, and mine. Ideas about where they could stretch in their imagined perfect lives, to make the spaces truly interesting as well as functional.

Where did you grow up? Has that had an influence on your design aesthetic?

I grew up in my mother’s house...full of color, light, fun and off beat relatives. Not exactly “anything goes,” but certainly anything interesting will be considered. She was one of thirteen, and the aunts and uncles lived and raised families in places as exotic then as Peru, with mining companies, or Alaska, with the BIA, or in Florida running amusement parks, or in Southern California 1950’s start-ups. They all came back to visit us in Oklahoma City with colorful surprises for us in their suitcases. Our design aesthetic had to be “eclectic” before the phrase was invented. I loved it.

What would be your dream project?

To design cooperatively managed, supportive housing, beautifully individualized to whatever extent possible for a soon to be aging population that doesn’t wish to “age in place” for reasons of personal circumstance, finances, or desire. To be part of a team devising solutions for thorny problems of aging reflected in right living spaces.

Finish the sentence: Every room needs _________.

a generous transition form the room or area before it. If the room is very different, an interesting visual segue is the best introduction to the new environment. I do not want to be overly “surprised” at home, in an office, or hotel. Yes, some surprise is great, but graceful flow is very important.